MULTIWAYS DOSAIR CLEANPIPE

We will develop an innovative solution to fish farms with productivity, ergonomic and environmental dimensions : 

• Homogeneity of growth of fishes 

Previously, fish farms announced an increase of 50% of production.

• Feed/growth of fish ratio

The ratio of kilograms of feed given/kilograms of fish produced can be equal to one. We reduce feed consumption, limit the financial impact for the producer and the environmental impact (the goods produced and transported). 

• Respect of the granulate during the transfer

The composition of the pellets must be respected for an optimised feeding of the fish, to stimulate their appetence. 

• Impact of the automated control of the installations according to external elements (luminosity, water turbidity)

Environmental factors affect the quality of fish feed. Being able to connect up to sensors will allow to record local information to improve the system. 

• Water quality

By limiting the food given and fish presence time in the pond.

With the decline in natural fish resources, fish farming offers interesting growth expectations. Fishes in aquaculture are fed with specialized pellets several times a day : either manually (using buckets sent to the ponds), either with automated solutions (single point of delivery for food, which lead to heterogeneity in fish growth).

The objective is to optimize the feeding of fish farms by automating the pellet distribution system while guaranteeing its quality until it is deposited in the pond. In order to provide an advantage, this system must allow simultaneous distribution of the pellets in different places, in order to avoid crowding of fish and to guarantee a homogeneous feeding.

The challenge is to support fish farmers in feeding fish while optimising the overall cost and the percentage of fish fed correctly in a pond. This system, takes up very little space, is modular with an internalized production that allows the product to be dispersed precisely to the nutritional needs of the fish.

These elements will preserve the food resource provided (better consumption, limitation of losses and the organic load lost), optimise manual work (through mechanisation and fine control) and improve the operators' skills (mastery of simple monitoring, reporting management, traceability).

Our solution is composed of 3 patented technologies: 

- Multiways: valve switching the elements injected in the pipework by reducing the outlet angles and therefore the pressure losses, thanks to the rotation on its axis of the lever arm which allows to pass in front of the various orifices and to circulate the fluids through the different outlets. This system reduces the number of pipelines used thanks to a modular, automatic and autonomous feeding system that deposits granules precisely at several points simultaneously, whatever the distance, the granulometry and the weight. 

-DosAir: replaces the manual process that generates musculoskeletal disorders thanks to an ergonomic innovation. Feeding can be configured and controlled remotely from the control screen of the machine, a smartphone or a computer (meal times, quantities, turbidity, oxygen, etc).

-CleanPipe: single-body bi-material cleaner. It is an elastomer hot-moulded on plastic. There is no possible retention zone. The bi-material solution allows a better sliding of the lips and ensures a hygienic cleaning of the pipe with low thrust pressures.

The  Multiways, DosAir, CleanPipe innovation is designed for fish farms to optimize profitability, improve the feeding process of ponds through responsible and profitable production:

1/ Enhanced productivity gains: direct monitoring of ponds multiplying distribution points and optimizing its profitability by 50%. It reduces the workload of the fish farmer and his employees by two thirds. Digital remote control checks various parameters (oxygen in the basin, water quality and turbidity) and reduces overall costs: food purchases and transport of goods (by stopping the use of tractors). Staff are reassigned to new, more rewarding and higher value-added tasks.

2/ Greater ergonomics : digitalized multi-tool solution thanks to an integrated ERP that manages food distribution. This leads to a reduction in musculoskeletal disorders, mental and emotional strain on operators. 

3/ An optimized environmental footprint with a precise monitoring: 

- Control and improvement of the quality of water and rivers

- Reduction of greenhouse gases and CO2 emissions. 

- Preservation of natural resources and biodiversity: substitution of intensive fishing.

Aquaculture is undergoing a real revolution, with consumer demand for meaningful products. Aquaculture on its archaic model is being replaced by modern aquaculture, optimising the working conditions of employees, while allowing better traceability of inputs, more respectful management of the aquatic environment and the marketing of products that often come from the circular economy. 

We participate in this dynamic by developing solutions for feed distribution and allowing savings of natural resources, by improving both the working conditions and production safety of employees and by optimizing fish production yields.

SECMA CABON SOLUTION VIDE has several competitors for the Multiways, DosAir, CleanPipe innovation for fish farms and with many automatic systems for feeding the fishes, always with only one food distribution point. Here some French examples, all worldwide systems are similar  :

• The  SCHAUER company, leader in France of the feeding in fish farms, markets a machine named "spotmix fish" consisting of an 8-way rotary valve that disperses the granules on a single deposit point with only one outlet per basin.

• AKVA offers an automated solution, but rather for a maritime application than a land-based one. Food portions are delivered through trap doors to a single delivery point at a time.

• The TERAQUA company has developed a technology to propel feeds by air or water with a single drop point. In order to have several depositing points, it is necessary to install several pipelines. Finally, water damages and alters the quality of the food distributed.

Our new automated pellet distribution system optimises the feeding of fish farms while guaranteeing its quality until the pellets are deposited in the pond thanks to a simultaneous distribution of the pellets in different places. This is to avoid fish crowding and to guarantee a more homogenous feeding in better environmental conditions and respectful of the employee. 

The Multiways, DosAir, CleanPipe project will provide new innovative solutions in terms of productivity, ergonomics and environmental issues in the aquaculture environment.

Our innovation is composed of three patented technologies:

- Multiways: diverter valve that reduces outlet angles and pressure drops by rotating the lever arm on its axis, which allows to pass in front of the various orifices and to circulate fluids through different outlets. The valve can be locked in one position to allow fluids to flow to only one outlet. The possibilities in terms of routing are endless. This technology improves industrial processes and reduces the number of pipelines to be used while limiting pressure drops. 

Multiways is a modular, automatic and autonomous feeding machine that allows to deposit precisely at one or more simultaneous points, pellets whatever the distance to be covered, the granulometry and the weight. 

- DosAir: this technology digitises the feeding of fishes by taking into account different variables (feeding time, quantities, water turbidity, oxygen, etc) of the pond. This action is fully configurable and can be remotely controlled from the control screen of the machine, a smartphone or a computer.

Below is an example of a meal programming interface: 

Meals settings

- CleanPipe: cleaner with a mono-body and bi-material (which avoids retention zones and therefore is hygienic) associated with a lip system.  It is an elastomer hot-moulded on plastic. The bi-material solution allows better lip glide on the pipe and less effort. The design of this scraper ensures hygienic cleaning of the pipe (no bacterial growth zones) with low pushing pressures.

Our project is patented for the 3 technologies (Multiways, DosAir and CleanPipe) used and labelled as well in France. However,we applied for a contest at ADEME in France. It is in the process of academic validation by ADEME.

There are 3 main axis on this project:

• Reduction of intensive fishing at sea, therefore decrease of destruction of the seabed, rebuilding of marine species and reduction of pollution due to fishing at sea 

• In fish farms we will decrease pollution thanks to decrease of wastes in ponds, so it will increase the quality of water and decrease use of raw material feedingstuffs

• It will allow to be able to easily set up fish farms and monitor them as closely as possible to the population thanks to all data collected with the digital tool

If you give a man a fish, he is feed once. If you teach him how to fish, he will be feed his whole life.

For century it had been true, now it is a false proverb. We shall now say : 

If you give a man a fish, he is feed once. If you teach him how to fish, he will be feed for a time and will destroy the ocean. If you teach him how to fish farm, he will be feed his whole life.

We have now 4 fish farm running, the growth of fish is 40% higher with our system.

The farm now produce 1600 tones of fish per year.  It represents 3 200 000 “food portions”. The contribution of our system is around 1 280 000 “food portions”. We expect to double our installation each year in already existing fish farm during the next 3 years. At that point we will contribute to 3 840 000 “food portions” per years and be able to start to install new small fish farm (from 50 tons to 100 tons per years) close to population who do not have the knowledge of fish farming. It represents 200 000 “food portions” that can be use to feed themself or to trade for other product.

This year : 4 fish farms upgrade, 7 680 000 “food portions” a year

In five year : 24 fish farms upgrade, 92 160 000 “food portions” a year plus 2 creations of small fish farm for local use : 400 000 “food portions” a year

We have two main goals for the next five years (including next year) :

• To allow to owners of fish farms to be able to set up fish farms anywhere in the world and where they do not have the technical knowledge to do so, in order to feed local populations more easily

• By using fish farming we reduce the impact of fishing pressure on the oceans (especially intensive fishing) and thus improve the life of mankind

Our main issue is the blockage to open new fish farms due to the lack of knowledges of the different environmental aspects or lack of technical knowledges for the owners. Today they do not always have the knowledge of the general and in-depth world of fish farming but only of their own site but not of the neighbour.

Our innovation gather information from all connected farms. In the long term and for new openings, it will allows us to find the best feeding model according to the implantation and environmental data at our disposal. This makes it easier for people with less knowledge to open new fish farms by helping them in their location searches thanks to local environmental information.

- 4 full-time staff 

- 4 part-time staff

Our company is part of a the SECMA CABON group which is specialized in all industrial dimensions, especially in agri-food sector. The group has strong konw-how in the designing and constructing of machines, and equipment for the industry. We are able to develop new process for any kind of technology of these activities since 1945. 

SECMA CABON SOLUTION VIDE teams are specialized in vacuum pumps thanks to 2 engineer in mechatronic and mechanical. They develop this innovation with 3 different patented systems : Multiways, DosAir and CleanPIpe, and they try every day to improve this projet by responding to all requirements from fish farms. 

SECMA CABON SOLUTION VIDE has no specific partner to develop this innovation.

However our objective is to test the last version our project in real conditions thanks to a multi-site fish farmer in France. We will set up Multiways, DosAir, CleanPipe on 6 sites, mainly located in north of France from September 2020 and during 18 months minimum.

We offer to fish farmers an innovative way to feed fishes in ponds. In order to optimize this novelty, we propose the installation of the product and the full maintenance and after-sales services.

Objectives of this innovation are to improve the functioning of livestock of their farms by increasing their rentability bu +50% and develop new local and environmental knowledges (thanks to the digital system : DosAir). 

This innovation will decrease all humans issues (repetitive movements, musculoskeletal disorders, mental load,etc) by increasing new skills. It will also reduce the environmental impact (less waste, less polluted water and soil, no more use of tractors, reduced use of lorries and therefore a reduction in greenhouse gases, etc).

This innovation will help to fish farmers to increase rentability of their ponds and allow them to develop and open new fish farms with better conditions thanks to new knowledges acquired on local environment and conditions.

We are working on an innovative project for fish farms and we are convinced that MIT Solver Teams can help us to develop this solution with good tools and constructive opinions from MIT-backed network, Solve's community, professionals and experts.

We would like to have support or partners from many areas, in order to help us to develop our innovation and our company in a good way with right tools.

We would like to partner with Solve Members like scientists, people who know very well the world of fish farms and with good knowledges in digital as well to help us to optimize and improve our system DosAir for piscicultures.

We can see in phase 2 of our video that our project allows us to be able to meet people to analyse the environmental data of the sites already installed so that we can help local people who have no knowledge of aquaculture, to help them install fish farms locally and in a sustainable way.

We are trying to feed people locally with a water source via fish farms. This allows them to create and develop their own local fish business. Fish is an exchange value with other food/feed they may need locally. This project is also innovative for the protection of the oceans (against intensive fishing) and biodiversity.